What is the foot tripod and why is it so important?
The foot is a dynamic structure with 28 bones and joints between each of those bones, and many muscles acting on those bones and joints. It needs to provide a stable base but still allow sufficient movement.
When working with clients and athletes, I will always look at what the feet are doing in relationship to the pain or issues they are having. Many times a foot that can not move well will have other ramifications upstream in the body. If both feet are stuck in pronation, that is typically a sign of a weak pelvic floor. People with SI joint issues again usally have a fibula that is stuck. If this happpens, the forces of gait go right into the SI joint. When athletes are trying to deadlift, squat or olympic lift, the feet need to be stable.
In my experince the feet have many tasks. 1- is gait. 2-there are a crap load of nerve endings in the feet(hence barefoot training), 3- the foot tripod to create a stable foundation. Your feet are like your sensors that are telling your joints and your body where you are in space and how to navigate terrain. The foot also needs to be mobile and we need to stop demonizing pronation. The foot needs to go from supination to pronation and then back again into supination. I have seen people miss snatches because of what their feet are doing!
WHAT MAKES UP THE FOOT TRIPOD
We have 3 points of contact that make up the tripod. 1-the ball of the big toe, 2- the heel and 3- is the ball of the little toe. All 3 of the points must have weight evenly distributed between them. If one point cannot engage with the floor, then the rest of structure above (lower leg, knee, upper leg, hip) will have issues up the chain. There are quite a few key muscles that help to maintain the arch, to keep the big toe down and to grip the toes and supinate the foot. If your foot isn’t functioning well, then your knees, hips and back will suffer. Knee issues typically aren’t really knee issues, but a resultant issue from either the feet or the hips and possibly the lateral chain. By learning more about your feet and getting them moving again, spending time barefoot, wearing minimalist shoes, you can begin to bring back the arch and provide more mobility and strength to the feet which will help your knees, hip and back. So if your squatting, you don’t want to be on your heels too much or on your toes. Being able to establish a good foot tripod will lead to health feet.
How to find your tripod
Stand with your feet hip width apart with your glutes engaged so your pelvis is in neutral alignment, then lift just your toes off the ground slightly. You should be able to feel the 2 forefoot tripod points? Now put your toes back down and see if you can maintain the tripod foot. How about if you start to bend at the knees and hips to initiate a squat? What happens when you start to move through your deadlift or snatch?
In order to restore the foot tripod you will need to improve mobility within the bones and joints of the foot. If the bones can’t move, they do not have the capacity for load. If the structure of the joint, or muscles supporting the joint are not well, the nervous system will create compression in the joint to create stability. This is not a good compensation plan and will stress the joint over time.
One of the best ways to improve joint mobility over time is through joint flossing drills. By loading the joints over time in the capacity that the nervous system can handle, will allow the joint and muscles to adapt and the nervous system will process and manage movement more effectively.
If you are looking for joint flossing or foot mobilization videos, they are all on my You Tube channel at Kimbley Bodywork. Happy flossing!